Home¶

Góðan dagin! I'm Tina Grønbech. This is my documentation page for Fabricademy 2026-2027 at Fab Lab Vágur - Faroe Islands.

From the Sea to the Fab Lab¶

I have spent much of my professional life at sea.

I have been part of the maritime world since I was 16. I started as a marine engineer and navigational officer, later earning my Master Mariner qualification, and went on to work as a DPA and HSE Manager in a shipping company for 7 years. My maritime career has taught me about ships, safety, operations, leadership and responsibility.

The ocean has always been more than a workplace for me. It is a place I know, respect and care deeply about. After years in the maritime industry, I moved into a corporate role and completed an MBA (Master of Business Administration) at the University of Southern Denmark, within the Faculty of Human Sciences. The MBA gave me a broader understanding of organizations, leadership and business systems, with a strong focus on people and purpose. A key part of the program was the understanding that people are an organization’s most valuable resource — and that the way we support, engage and develop people is fundamental to the success of a business.

Photos: [Tina Grønbech]

As a young person, seeing the world and sailing the oceans was all I dreamed of. The sea gave me a sense of freedom, adventure and purpose. With age, however, my perspective changed. I gradually distanced myself from the use-and-dispose culture and began to feel a stronger responsibility for how we use resources, what we consume, and what we choose to throw away. I became more interested in repairing what we already have, reusing materials and finding new purposes for things that might otherwise be discarded. For me, this is not only about reducing waste, but about changing the way we see materials — recognizing their value, their history and the possibilities they still hold. At the same time, I became increasingly aware that I did not want my future career to be defined by a purely growth- and consumption-driven way of working.

When I had the opportunity to start up Fab Lab Vágur, I saw a chance to use my experience in a new way — one that was more aligned with my values. Sustainability, minimalism and making better use of what we already have has always been important to me, in every aspect of my life. Leveraging my MBA and maritime background, I have spent six years driving operations, financial strategy, and long-term vision at Fab Lab Vágur.I spearhead community-focused initiatives that prioritize diversity, local engagement, and impactful digital fabrication over traditional profit.

The Ocean and Climate¶

My connection to the ocean has also changed.

As a young sailboat sailor and later on professional seafarer, the ocean was my playground and workplace for many years. Today, I am increasingly concerned about what happens to it. Plastic and fishing waste washes up on our beaches, climate changes, the scale of global production and our patterns of consumption have strengthened my motivation to act. I am deeply concerned about how much we produce, buy and discard, and about the pressure this puts on our resources and the environment. I don't want to only talk about sustainability. I want people to work with real materials and real problems — to collect, sort, process, reuse and experiment with what is already around us locally. Through hands-on projects and community collaboration, we can explore different ways of using our resources and reducing waste.

Photos: [Tina Grønbech]

Portfolio Fab Lab Vágur¶

The world's 1^st Escape Room built on an authentic historic wooden sloop¶

The First Escape Rooms on the Faroe Islands (Vágur, Suðuroy)

2021/2022/This multi-year, community-driven initiative introduced the first escape room concepts to the Faroe Islands through two distinct, immersive experiences. The project was initiated through an Artist-in-Residence program, which brought artist and digital fabricator Navid O’Lari to Fablab Vágur. What started as a residency blossomed into a long-term collaboration with the lab and the local community.

Cryptic Waves: A Nordic quest set in a Seafarers and Vikings universe, and the world's first escape room built on an authentic historic wooden sloop, the smack Jóhanna. The adventure begins when local sailors discover an ancient Viking chest on the small, uninhabited island of Lítla Dímun. Legends say the chest contains an artifact of the highest historical value—but the artifact desperately wants out, threatening to destroy everything around it. To release it before it’s too late, players must find a way to open the chest by piecing together scattered pages of the ship's logbook, uncovering the mysterious fate of the boat's vanished crew

Snæbjørns Great Escape: An outdoor, urban escape experience where players move across the town of Vágur, solving clues seamlessly integrated into the local culture and environment.

Photos: [Fab Lab Vágur]

Community Engagement & Education Deeply rooted in local engagement, Navid's residency and subsequent collaboration were built side-by-side with the enthusiastic inhabitants of Vágur. Beyond the creation of the two full-scale escape rooms, the initiative served as an educational catalyst in the region. It featured hands-on STEM workshops for local school children and professional digital fabrication training for primary school teachers. Technical Execution and the physical puzzles, props, and environments, were developed using open-source design tools and advanced fabrication techniques:

Open source vector tools → laser cutting → 3D printing → electronics → reuse materials → Making → Present

Partners & Support This project was made possible through the dedicated help of the community of Vágur, with the official support and sponsorship of Fab Lab Vágur, Vágs Kommuna and Visit Suðuroy.

About the creator Maison Autrique Museum Escape Game and blueprints Instructables.

Tíðin Millum Okkum – The Time Between Us¶

2023/Tíðin Millum Okkum was a three-month community project exploring stories, landscape and Faroese wool. The project brought together local people of different ages and backgrounds and connected traditional knowledge with digital fabrication.The project was initiated by Floortje Zonneveld, Martijn Bastiaans and Eva Bullens together with Vágs Kommuna and Fab Lab Vágur. During the project, we created site-specific audiowalks (QR codes) with and by locals, for anyone including tourist to explore the outdoors area and explore the local perspective and stories, while walking through town or surrounding nature. We also developed a community created woolen sitting-mat using innovative techniques, that visitors can bring into the mountains. The sitting mats can be borrowed at the local library/Visit Suðuroy. The project followed wool through a local material journey:

Sheep → Shearing → Washing → Carding → Felting → Laser Cutting → Making

Photos: [Private photos and video by Visual artist Floortje Zonneveld]

Watch the Sitting Mats Video

Click the image above to watch the documentary about the 19-piece modular sitting mat made from felted Faroese wool, created in collaboration with Fab Lab Vágur.

Photos: [Fab Lab Vágur]

The final result was a modular sitting mat made from 19 pieces of felted Faroese wool, designed for use in the Faroese landscape.The patterns was originally developed by Icelandic designer Margrét Katrín Guttormsdóttir See more here

About partners See more here.

Skógurin Kring Mína Oyggj – The Forest Around My Island¶

2024/2025/Skógurin Kring Mína Oyggj explored seaweed as a local resource and as a way of looking at the relationship between people, the ocean and the landscape around Suðuroy. More than 90 local participants took part in workshops where seaweed was explored through observation, sensory experiences, art, digital fabrication and material experiments. The project later developed into "It Tangles Around My Foot" (2026), a longer educational and material exploration with students. The original concept and material research was developed by former Fabricademy participant Alberte Holmø Bojesen /BA in Textile Design, who introduced her research and the exploration of seaweed as a biomaterial. The material process:

Harvest → Explore → Transform → Design → Fabricate → Present